2018 - The JK Vision - Geek, Tech, Food & Film.

The Amazing Smartphone Era: 5 Unexpected Things That You Didn't Know There Was an App For

The revolution of Google's PlayStore, Windows Phone Store and Apple's platform has transformed today's smartphones into super gadgets wielding more power than most people can fathom. Nowadays, finding and downloading free apps for simple day-to-day tasks such as checking emails, chatting, taking photos, etc is nothing but a breeze.

Smartphones have been around for quite some time now, and for this reason it's common for one to think that they've seen and heard all there is to witness, as far as mobile apps go. Well, this might be the case, but not until they've seen the following list of ingenious apps.

Here are top 5 things you never imagined there was an app for.

1.) Changing the colour of light bulbs.

Are you tired of the feeling of being stuck with a single monochromatic hue for your living room? Yes, as weird as it may seem, you can change the colours of your bulbs using your iPhone or iPad anytime you please. This is of course courtesy of the work of clever software developers behind the Phillips Hue mobile app available on Apple's iTunes store. All you require to periodically change the colour of the glow of your light bulbs is a relatively strong Wi-Fi connectivity and a set of 'smart' bulbs. With the help of this app, you can also control the brightness level of these bulbs using your phone, something that most of us never imagined could even be remotely possible.

2.) Using your phone as a remote control handset.

We all have experienced that frustrating feeling one gets when you can't seem to recall where you last placed your remote control, especially when you need to flip through channels. Have you ever also noted that in all those times that you couldn't find your TV's remote, you surprisingly had your phone in your pocket or next to you? Yeah, we tend to be rather attached to our phones.

In the same light, another strange app took advantage of this and enables you to transform that mobile handset you so treasure into a functional remote control. It saves you the inconvenience of ransacking your living room anytime you can't seem to keep track of your main remote unit. ThinkFlood's Red Eye Mini continues to save the day in many homes and is compatible with both iOS and Android phones.

3.) Tracking your kids.

Kids, especially teenagers, have proven to be quite sneaky and evasive. Well, if you have a teenage daughter or son, you no longer have to keep calling them after every ten minutes to inquire on their whereabouts. Most of the time they won't also tell you the truth. With the GPS tracking app - Life360, you can enjoy a little peace of mind knowing exactly where your children are, that is if they have their phone with them.

Additionally, when visiting a friend in another country or new city you can make use of this app to avoid getting lost or stranded. Using this tracking app, your host could direct you more accurately to their place or pick you up at a particular rendezvous using your location.

On that note, when travelling abroad you should make it a habit to install this app plus a good VPN encryption software on your phone. The VPN will enable you an unlimited internet access regardless of the mobile network carrier or Wi-Fi connectivity you will use while away from home.

4.) Catching fish.

The next time you're caught in an unsuccessful fishing expedition, simply pull out your phone and install Deeper Fish Finder app. You will be amazed by how accurate the app is in detecting fish that are up to 120 feet deep. The application uses sonar pulses that could be generated by your smartphone to image fish that are beyond your visual realm. To use the app, you have to lower your phone near the water surface for the pulses to detect the fish more accurately. (Take care not to drop your phone, though)

5.) Measuring the height of buildings, towers or even mountains while up-close.

Ever wondered how tall your favourite skyscraper in the city is? Have you ever been out on a picnic and wondered out aloud how you wish knew how high a given rock or boulder was? Well, it turns out there is an app developed just for that. Dot Measure Pro for iOS and Blackberry is famous for approximating the height of buildings, cliffs, bridges and other tall architectural structures with an outstanding level of accuracy. The developers have made it even more fun to use by integrating a feature that prompts you to first place a guess before measuring the actual height. You might be surprised on how wild your guesses can be!

Caroline is a self confessed geek who loves writing about technology and gadgets. You can connect with her via Google+

1) That Guy That Walks Everywhere Backwards

If you've been in Derby for more than a month and you have no idea who I'm talking about then why don't you try going to Derby City Centre LITERALLY ANYTIME. This guy walks backwards around town all day writing mysterious notes into his notebook. No one knows why he does this and he refused to talk to anyone that asks. He's become a kind of celebrity to Derbadians.

2) Stab Alley Behind Sir Peter Hilton Court

If you're a student then you will know exactly what I'm talking about here. Between Sir Peter Hilton Court and Darley Bank is an alley that runs past the river. Walking down this alone at night would earn you some major respect from me. You'll also happen to come across stoner bridge next to Peter Hilton. I'll let you guys find out about that for yourselves.

3) Being Shit Scared Of The Hairy Dog Yet Always Manager To End Up There On A Night Out

If you've ever been into the Hairy Dog even remotely sober and actually felt safe then who even are you? I was stone cold sober the first time I went in here and had to stay alert at all times just so I didn't get attacked or something. No matter how much you bad mouth this place though you always seem to end up back there since it stays open late most of the week. Expensive drinks and a pool of piss in the bathroom make for a much needed shot or 2.

4) Playing 'Dodge The Clipboards' On St. Peters Street

Look, all I wanted was a crap ton of McNuggets to quench the sadness ans street of uni work. No I do not want to talk to you about our lord and saviour, nor do I want to buy a wristband for £20 then feel bad whenever I say no. It takes almost twice as long to walk down this road than it should since you have to zigzag side to side just to avoid human contact.

5) Having To Decide Between Mosh And Walkabout When Both Are Equally Shite

So where are we off tonight guys? Mosh? Walkabout? Nah. Then where else? Oh...better be Mosh then. You better hold onto your shoes in mosh cause it seems like the floor is trying to mug you most of the time you're there. Nailing them to your feet should do the trick. Fair enough you can get free shots from there but the options are so weak you might as well ask for a shot of orange squash.

6) Wondering Where The Poultry Based Pet Names Came From

You go for you first shop since moving to Derby. You're next in line. The checkout lady looks over to and that's when she says it... "Ayup Duck". Duck... Did I just get called a duck? Since when has Duck been a nice name to call someone? I mean yeah ducks existed before I came to uni but I just thought they were animals that you could rarely afford from the Chinese and then they started disappearing from the local river. No words of a lie, this really throws me off still to this day.

Image source

Becoming a recognized artist is now easier than it ever has been before.

With the downfall of CD’s and many of our music shops now closing down, it’s time to invent yourself as an online artist and it’s easier than you may think too. Here I have rounded up some ideas which may help you promote yourself in our new digital era.

Social media

With the likes of Justin Bieber and Jessie J as an example, both of these artists were discovered on YouTube.

YouTube has 1 billion active users each month, the site allows you to upload videos giving you instant exposure to those who love to find new music.

Make sure you’re promoting yourself using twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Twitter alone has 232 million users, whilst Instagram have a 150 million and Facebook have 500 million users, so these are great platforms to start promoting yourself. Twitter has a brilliant way to promote yourself even more with the use of the ‘#’ and ‘retweet’ option, these are helpful tools to get wide spread exposure and make contacts within the same industry.

Create a page on these networks and provide regular updates of where you are, what you’re up to and upcoming events, to ensure people have somewhere to keep in touch with you. Make sure you’re holding regular events such as gigs to give a taste of your music.

Giving out your music on USB devices to people who are interested, will allow the opportunity for people to share and download the music, providing you with a fan base and possibly an income too. This is also a great idea for the use at clubs, by ensuring your USB device is branded with your/the band’s name on it will mean they won’t forget you the next day.

Networking these ways essentially provides a powerful, simple and successful way to promote yourself as an artist without the use of a record label.

Sound Cloud is a fantastic network if you’re looking to successfully share your music online. This network allows unsigned artists to create and share their music across their social media platforms- it lets you share privately with friends and family or you can post your material publicly. The network, as with all social media can be accessed by using almost any device of your choice, so you’re able to use it anywhere, and it is free to use.

Your own website

It’s important to have your own website so that your social media has a platform to refer back too. This will be the place all the latest news, stories and images should be located and stored, pack as much information on there as possible. Make sure the website looks professional so people know you want to be taken seriously, make sure it’s well laid out so that subjects and pages are easy to find, and people can explore your website at ease and gain as much knowledge on you as possible.

Compared to before when all artists had were CD’s to promote themselves, there are now so many more opportunity’s which you are able to take advantage of to get yourself known in the industry, without having to spend big money on promotion.

"Claire Louise Sheridan is a keen blogger, writer and marketer with aspirations of becoming a recognised member of the digerati. Until then, she's content seeing the world, watching live music, volunteering, playing with her kitten and eating all of the food. You can find her Twitter here" @xo_clairelouise

The Devolution of Diablo

by Syrmaticus (@IronDaggerGames)

irondagger.wordpress.com

Writing about a game long after the dust has settled is good for one thing, at least. I can better hold myself apart from the inevitable, populist sentiments that riddle unworthy sequels and oft-cursed Part Threes.

Or so I told myself when I fired up Diablo III and saw Tristram for the first time in almost a decade. Oh, my bad. It's New Tristram now... and what a difference that word makes.

On my way to the infamous cathedral, I reflected on the terror that place had stoked in me when I was, what, fourteen? Creeping along dank hallways, back glued to a wall, quaking behind the woefully inadequate buckler I had arrived in town with, breathing a sigh of relief Diablo himself must have heard at the first, blessed discovery of an enchanted club.

The present recreation of that delicious nightmare drew from me a sigh of exasperation Tathamet himself must have heard.

This game is supposed to scare me, damnit

No, a tricked-out church crypt packed with easily defensible corners, well-lit spaces wide enough to golf in, and laughably disposable undead I can see coming half a mile off isn't scary.

Scary was why I wall-hugged in the original Diablo. Not out of any 'close off your blind spot' tactical consideration or any similar Sun Tzu jazz; I was gnawing the heart in my mouth at the prospect of venturing into that claustrophobic yet frightfully open void, away from the cold, animal safety of the stone at my back.

Scared of the (digital) dark. As a teenager. And it wasn't even a survival horror game.

Diablo II, while not quite as hair-raising, did try valiantly with places like the Rogues' Monastery and the Durance of Hate, which actually made me hesitate to push on at certain junctures for sudden fear of the shadows ahead. What did Diablo III accomplish in this regard?

Right from the zombie movie ripoff of a kickoff, I was about as fazed as I was much later amid the newest, obligatory magma-and-brimstone Hell reprise. In fact, once the classic first dungeon of the Diablo series failed to frighten in its second incarnation, no others came close.

I can only put this down to level design, the mood generated by the plot, and my having aged some ten-plus years.

Facing my fears... and smacking 'em down

The first Diablo, greeting me with dim, tight corridors and chambers punctuated by drafty, open halls that looked about as welcoming as the gaping maws of demons, evoked immediate fear and suspicion – made only worse by the omnipresent gothic architecture and funereal ornamentation.

Okay, so the lava caves below (when did Diablo, right or wrong, turn into D&D dragon den?) dealt a heavy blow to the atmosphere. So did, to a lesser extent, the series's first rendition of Hell: a curiously sanitized chain of ballrooms with scattered Chinese Mythology 18th Level of the Underworld decor. But the potency of the atmosphere in the cathedral and the catacombs? Undeniable.

The dark low fantasy formula of blighted medieval countrysides and desolate castle ruins served Diablo III well in its early outdoor areas, as a tether to the series's thematic roots. However, the blatantly overpowered nature of the player characters killed a good deal of the spookiness. A ravening undead horde, climbing out of a mass grave decked with swinging corpses, is naught to be feared if you can draw steel with the air of a B-movie action hero and wade in smirking like a boss.

This only got worse later on in Persian deserts and war-torn tundras, both rehashes of Diablo II settings and not entirely congruous either (particularly the latter; what room is there for the series's classic creepiness on a battlefield?).

Yes, back in Diablo II, fighting grenade-lobbing catmen in the desert and blowdart-spitting pygmies in a twisted fantasy Vietnam War simulation sort of detracted from my expectations. But I don't recall being bothered much.

Suspense and suspension (of disbelief)

Because I knew what I, or rather my character, was up to. And I believed in it. That all-important accessory known as the plot made it so. It seemed, back then, that the more outlandish and un-scary the setting, the more the writers tried to give you a purpose; one that didn't seem too out of sync with the humble quests players of the first game were used to.

In Aranoch? Searching for a tomb-sized needle in a haystack. (Fair enough.)

In Kurast? Undermining the world's biggest religion. (Read: a head-on assault on their damned HQ. Going downhill here.)

And in Arreat? Plowing through infernal legions to stop Baal and save the world. (Wow, all grown up now!)

Diablo III didn't just fail harder than this. It repeatedly insulted players' intelligence, plot-wise: blatant giveaways such as the Stranger's identity (his sword was the clincher but I hoped I was wrong, for freshness's sake), Belial's disguise (so obvious from the outset that I refused to swallow it until the bitter end), and Adria's true nature (a shining example of foreshadowing via flavor lore taken a hundred steps too far) come instantly to mind.

Dropped balls like these underscore the tragic lack of mood throughout the game's quests. What is left to immersion when you can effortlessly guess what's really going on, all the time? Add an environment that casts the spotlight more on epic monster-slaying than the finer points of what, in essence, is a tale of humans contending with forces beyond their ken (nephalem... ugh), and it becomes easy to see the series's downward slide.

The original Diablo suffered from no such issues. There wasn't much of a plot there, just a hack n' slasher garnished with a few key lore points and a few more smaller ones for aesthetics. The whole game was level one to level sixteen, point A to point B; a great deal in between was up to you and your imagination.

By contrast, its successors tried harder, and, accordingly, opened themselves to the risk of falling harder. The latest tried hardest, especially by introducing persistent, prominent plot figures (Leah, Tyrael, et al) that function like the essential NPCs in an MMO – keeping the player on story rails, and supplying superfluous filler.

The result of having these characters accompany us from Act to Act and drive things along? It comes off as us following them. We're back to the old MMO trope of players immortalized in official lore as the brave, but somehow unknown champions that aided Sir Protagonist in the slaying of the dragon.

I am afraid – but for the series, not of it

Would Diablo III not have been far better off keeping faith with its prequels' comparatively more stripped-down nature and player-centric plot focus? After all, is it not scariest when you're all by your lonesome?

Nobody's contesting that it's a fantastic team action game. That was always the point. But taken as an RPG experience (and I employ the RPG designation loosely)? Not quite as stellar. It was more than a little disappointing, watching the genre-defining precedent set by the first in the series muddied by declining writing standards and mass market appeal.

Warcraft went the dumbed-down route long ago. Even StarCraft, the last of Blizzard's franchises to stick to its C-10 canister rifles, has thrown in the towel with tragic hero Zerg and space hadouken matches. While Reaper of Souls went a considerable way towards redeeming Diablo's past glory, the outcome remains in doubt – this franchise is just one more disappointing expansion away from going to hell.

via Coindesk

Hello! My name is Steve from stevesincomestreams and Adrian has been kind enough to invite me to talk with you all about Cryptocurrencies. I'd like to explain how they work and how they can be part of your financial strategy.

You may have heard about these mysterious things called "Cryptocurrencies" in the news - anonymous money that seems like it can quadruple in price over night! Luckily, it's not as complicated as sensationalist media may have you believe. A cryptocurrency is any form of currency whose transactions are cryptographically validated by a decentralised network. More simply put, it is a type of money that derives its “authority” as real money from a mathematically proven history of transactions rather than the arbitrary say-so of a centralised authority. This kind of money gives power to everyday citizens to control our currency.

The first technology to use this concept on a large scale was the famous Bitcoin. Since its transactions were validated by math and not bankers, there was no way for the government or anyone else to track who owned which Bitcoin when. This anonymity revolutionised online economics and naturally lead to a black market, while also having legitimate uses. After the government’s crack down on the largest Bitcoin vendor, the Silk Road, Bitcoin went largely clean and is used for legal purposes in the vast majority of transactions.

The mechanics of Bitcoin involves two groups: the miners and the users. Miners are the people who connect their computer to the Bitcoin network to validate transactions. Since these transactions must be mathematically unable to forge, validating transactions requires an enormous amount of computing power. When the network was small and there were few miners competing among each other to validate a “block” of transactions before other miners did, many people just mined with laptops. But as more transactions flowed in and more miners entered the game, people switched from graphics cards to specially built mining cards and eventually were forced into pooling their resources among miner allies. Miners get rewarded 25 Bitcoin for validating a transaction, a vast sum that now ends up getting split among 1000 or so pool mates.

This serves the dual purpose of introducing new Bitcoin to the system as well as validating transactions. Miners tend to sell their rewards off for fiat currency or other cryptocurrency and the newly mined Bitcoin enter the system of users, being traded and used for purchase.

As an open source project, Bitcoin opened a world of opportunity for developers ead to a whole world of altcoins all claiming to make improvements off of Bitcoin’s model. These improvements include new validation algorithms, new ways to distribute coins and coins revolving around drawing support to special causes. I hope to take you through all these altcoins over time, but for now I hope you have a solid understanding of cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin.

For more tech insights, financial advice, and general tomfoolery check out stevesincomestreams.com and @StevesStreams on Twitter!

x

5) The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (2004)

Of course The Spongebob Squarepants Movie isn't in the top 5 films of all time in general but for me it is right up there. You have to take into consideration the fact that I grew up absolutely obsessed with Spongebob. I had the box-sets, the games, the toys, the clothes...heck, even my bedroom walls were decorated in the stuff. So when the hugely anticipated film was finally released a small part of my inner child was complete, add this to the fact that the film wasn't actually that bad in general anyway. To this day I can still watch this film again and again.

4) Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith (2005)

I know what most people are thinking... "Really? A prequel trilogy film in your top 5?". Well, you need to completely forget about the previous 2 films and focus solely on this instalment alone. It pretty much saved the prequel trilogy towards the end. George Lucas actually made something worth watching with perhaps the best lightsaber battle among all 7 in the saga. Although Hayden Christensen's performance was one of the worse I have ever seen, Ewan McGregor's was one of the best. Plus Dooku, who doesn't love Dooku?

3) The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Based on the book by Stephen King this film is such a classic that I shouldn't need to tell you too much about it. Based in Shawshank prison it tells of Andy Dufresne, an American banker, who was sentenced to 2 life sentences for murder and how he survives in prison. It stars one of my favourite actors (and probably yours too) Morgan Freeman. His unforgettable voice also provides the narration for the film. If you have yet to see this film...stop reading this post right now and go watch it. This is an extremely emotional film, putting it at number 3 in my top 5.

2) Fight Club (1999)

You nearly caught me...I know the rules.

1) Labyrinth (1986)

This film. David Bowie. That should do it. I mean it though, this film is the pinnacle of...filmy-ness? It has everything a film needs: Good music, David Bowie and a Bowie bulge. What more could you expect? Even though I was born 11 years after this film was released it was still a childhood film for me. Dance Magic Dance is still a song I listen to regularly, constantly being reminded of the babe and such. I highly recommend this film to anyone interested in fantasy, David Bowie or just good films in general to be honest.

Well, the short answer is “barely”. Our man Keith gives us the lowdown on what footy fans had to suffer before EA’s beast of a game:

In the same way that Sky would have you believe that football didn’t exist before the inception of the Premier League in 1992, Electronic Arts would probably be pretty happy if people believed that football video games didn’t exist prior to the release of FIFA International Soccer in late 1993. We’ve gotten so used to the yearly installments of FIFA (plus the tournament tie ins) and Pro Evolution Soccer over the past two decades that it seems unimaginable that any other football games even existed. However, for better or worse (much worse in some cases…) they did, and here we take a look at just a few of them….

World Soccer – (Master System)

Released in Europe in late 1987, and in the US under the title ‘Great Soccer’ (err, ok…), World Soccer was the first console football game I ever played or owned. At the time, bearing in mind that I was about 7 or 8 years old when I got it, it seemed ok at first. But young Keith soon grew weary and frustrated with this second rate sim. Although the pitchside view and cutesy sprites looked ok, the controls were clunky and unresponsive, there were no free kicks whatsoever (apart from offsides!), and it was almost impossible to score!

IF you somehow got close enough to the opposition goal to have a shot, the direction of your effort was determined by a white arrow that slide up and down the goal line, that you then had to stop in the desired place. You also had to make sure you kept the ball and that your player was facing the right way – this sounds easy in the modern era of responsive controls and pads with 28 buttons, but back then it was a freakin’ nightmare! And that is where World Soccer shall stay – confined to my nightmares.
This is a shocking game and not one that I would recommend checking out, even for nostalgic reasons. Amazingly, it even spawned a sequel! Interestingly, in Scandinavia it was called ‘Anders Limpar’s Proffs Fotboll’. Better title definitely, but not enough to save this game from the soccer sim scrapheap.Many sequels followed, as did ports to various consoles. I played Super Kick Off a fair amount when it arrived on the Mega Drive, and always had a soft spot for it, in part due to the “almost, but not quite” player names. Brian Eclair and Jamie Blueknapp being ones that stand out in the memory!The pace of the game is sloooooow beyond belief; the collision detection is appalling and the shooting and passing so weak it’s ridiculous. Amongst all these frustrations and worthy of a special mention are the slide ‘tackles’ in this game. Go on, give it a try and watch your defender slide halfway down the length of the pitch without getting anywhere near the ball. ARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!A true multi-player legend, the action was fast and furious end to end stuff, and the popularity of the game can easily be measured by the fact that it was eventually ported to virtually every console you can think of, including the Mega CD! Sensible Soccer must go down as a classic and in the opinion of many, was the first truly great football video game.

Gazza’s Superstar Soccer – (Amiga, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum)

Endorsed by and named after everyone’s favourite blubbing boozy Geordie, Gazza’s Superstar Soccer is a haunting reminder of how bad things used to be. Bizarrely, it has no scrolling. This means there are three fixed views of the pitch, a side on view of the middle third, and as soon as the ball goes to one end of the pitch it switches to an end to end view where the camera appears to be floating above the centre circle… If this wasn’t distracting enough, the game is also uglier than Gazza’s fellow Geordie and erstwhile England teammate Peter Beardsley (sorry Beardo), and the players all appear to be doing a poorly choreographed version of Riverdance. Michael Flatley must be spinning in his grave. Whats that? He’s not dead? Oh…..

Kick Off – (Amiga, Atari ST, NES initially, everything else later…)

First released in 1989, Kick Off became a huge success, and its developer Dino Dini became a well-known name amongst gamers of the time (in true football style he even ‘transferred’ from Anco to Virgin Games in the early 1990’s). It was another game with a top down view, which worked well. It was quite difficult to get the hang of, and dribbling with the ball took a fair bit of time and skill to master, but this did add an air of realism to the way it played. It was notable at the time for various features such as action replays, players with different characteristics and skills, tactics, injuries and even different referees with different moods!

European Club Soccer – (Mega Drive)

Originally a PC game titled “Manchester United Europe” (I feel sick just typing that…), this sim from Virgin was released on the MD in 1992 and featured 170 teams to choose from, including those from the 1st Division at the time. A classic case of style over substance, this is a very well presented game with decent animation and fairly detailed sprites. However the gameplay lets it down terribly.

It’s a shame as it looks good, there are lots of options (tactics, kits, lots of teams, tournament mode), but the sloppy gameplay and plodding nature of the game suck all the fun out of it.

Sensible Soccer (Atari ST, Amiga, PC… then everything else!)

Developed by Sensible Software (hence the title…) and known affectionately by aficionados as Sensi, this was originally released on the Amiga, Atari ST and PC in 1992. It featured a top down bird’s eye view similar to many older football games, but from much higher up. It was most notable for its aftertouch feature which allowed you to put a crazy amount of swerve on the ball after you had a shot. It was also a departure from most other footy sims at the time in that the ball ‘stuck’ to the player as he dribbled, as opposed to him appearing to tap it front of him as he ran, which was the case in other games. This allowed a greater degree of control and added to the game play immensely as you can dribble round players in a way that had never been properly captured before.

They think it’s all over….

So there you go. We’ve barely scratched the surface of retro football games, as I decided to only cover the ones I have previous experience of, and I wanted to end this article on a positive note with Sensible Soccer. But for every Sensi, there’s a World Cup Italia ’90… Now its over to you. What are some of your best loved/most hated retro football sims? Let us know…

- Keith

The post was originally writen by Keith at Arcade Attack. If you liked the post then please check out more of their content!

By: Ryan Cunningham

If there was going to be one motto for the past decade, it would be “out with the old, in with the new.” Netflix has almost entirely replaced physical movie renters, print newspapers are experiencing an all-time low in readership, and even popular radio broadcasts are steadily losing business to Pandora and Spotify. Across the board, the classic forms of entertainment and luxury are being replaced by their new counterparts–that is, except for video games.

Despite numerous technological advancements that should have sent video games the way of the dinosaurs and Cher’s original face, these bastions of merriment just keep pumping out hits and drawing in a bigger crowd than ever. In 2015, the Entertainment Software Association found that 155 million Americans play video games, and 44% of Americans do so for three or more hours every week.

What’s shocking about these numbers is that contemporary players aren’t just riding the wave of a fad. Video game studios are releasing retro-style products like Coffee Crisis to appeal to the classic, fundamental features that made games great. Instead of relying on new technology, the core features of video games have proven timeless and allowed for them to keep their integral values while adapting enough to stay relevant. Good luck finding another industry where using older styles makes the product more popular.

If almost every other industry is being swept away by new technologies, then why are video games the only ones that continue to thrive?

Relaxing

If you get home from work every day and are struck with an inescapable feeling of exhaustion, you aren’t alone. Modern workers are stressed out of their minds with the anxiety of paying bills and working long hours, and this kind of pressure can drain the life out of a person. Luckily, video games are a reliable and convenient way to get some of that juice back in your system.

Video games can help you chill out because, unlike your supervisor, they’re designed to keep you motivated. People work jobs all day long where they never get any recognition, and it can be nice to come home, relax, and be thanked by thousands of NPCs for saving them from impending doom. It’s more satisfying than filing a budget report, anyway.

Maybe that’s why video games have repeatedly been found to lower stress levels in players. When everyone is so wound up from grinding away at thankless and stressful jobs, video games can give them the satisfaction and enjoyment to keep them chugging alone. Sure, they might not be as “useful” as spending that time doing chores or putting in extra hours at the office, but since when did everything have to be useful? What ever happened to fun for the sake of it?

50 percent of Americans say they aren’t having enough fun, and there’s a reason for that. The culture has become so shifted toward working 24/7 that just relaxing has gotten a bad rap, but that shouldn’t be the case. There’s nothing wrong with taking some time for yourself, and most health experts agree that more relaxation could even increase your happiness and longevity. Video games are popular not only because you get to relax, but you get to do it by bashing in some zombie heads. Good luck beating that one, future technology!

Developing Creativity

According to recent research, Americans are creatively starved; while children are getting smarter with each passing generation, their creativity scores continue to decline. This trend may be disturbing, it isn’t that shocking. Children are exposed to more facts and knowledge than ever before thanks to the advent of the information age, but they’re also losing creative outlets left and right.

As arts and music programs in schools continue to be cut around the country, children are losing the few creative outlets that are left to them. While information is easier to attain than ever (did you know that Charles Strite invented the toaster?), Americans continue to lose opportunities to think analytically and learn to find alternative solutions to problems. And, God I’ve always wanted to say this, video games can save the day.

Even at a glance, this idea seems to make sense. There are plenty of puzzle games out there that force you to think non-linearly, so it isn’t that shocking that they could increase a child’s ability to think creative. According to a study conducted by Michigan State University, however, video games are increasing creativity across the board, regardless of genre. Even reading can’t boast those kinds of results!

American children are working harder than ever in schools and are having their creativity smothered. Video games are staying relevant because they’re still offering that creative outlet to children. It’s unfortunate but, until the authorities start to understand how vital creativity is, the youth of America will have to keep placing their faith in Arceus.

Building a Community

Despite what your grandpa tells you whenever he sees you pull out your Nintendo DS, video games aren’t actually tearing people apart. In fact, unless you’ve been vacationing at the bottom of the ocean, you’ve probably already heard about the most recent instance of a game bringing people together: Pokémon Go.

Yes, Pokémon Go has gotten people more active and it has led to unprecedented amounts of bonding within the Pokémon’s fan base. People have been getting active within their communities, chatting up strangers, and making real friends because of a free game on their phone. “But most games don’t make you leave the house,” the mysterious voice in my head is telling me, and that’s true. While most video games do tend to keep you seated on the couch, they still present plenty of opportunities to interact with other gamers.

Even before the advent of AR technology, video games have always been about bringing people together. Couch co-op is an art form that, while it has classic roots, is still being created today. While many critique video games for being distracting or isolating, I challenge anyone to find a better bonding tool than forming a Viking party with your friends and saving the world.

No matter how many video game magazines you subscribe to, there will always be amazing indie games that you’d never hear about without real life connections. Every longtime gamer has a group of friends that they can chat with to figure out what games are worth buying and to get the latest gossip in the industry, and that’s part of the fun of being a gamer. If everyone with an Xbox was a reclusive shut-in, there’d be no way to organize massive conventions like E3 or Gen Con. Video games have been bringing people together for decades, and that’s why they’ll continue to stand the test of time.

Fun Is Simple

You don’t need to be a “nerd” to enjoy video games. You don’t even need to have particularly impressive hand-eye coordination. All that you need is an hour or two of free time, a console, and the desire to enjoy yourself.

More often than not, life is complicated and frustrating. Sometimes you just need to relax, sit on the couch, and destroy some coffee-obsessed aliens with the power of heavy metal. In a world that is as fast-paced and draining as this one, there will always be a demand for games that let people relax and form connections with the people around them. Instead of dying with the release of new technologies, video games are adapting and becoming more popular than ever. And, on behalf of everyone who comes alive with the feeling of a controller in their hand, I say thank God.

We live in a world full of advertisements. They are everywhere you look. On your TV, your Radio, your computer, your phone and hundreds of other places. Some of these ads can become irritating and some can be completely useless which is true. But just think about those companies or content creators that literally make their money from selling advertisements.

Let's use for example Funnyjunk, a humorous Image and video sharing site where users can comment on content and interact with each other. without advertisements running alongside the site there would be no income whatsoever to the site so the sever costs would not be paid and the site would be shut down. Advertisements either pay based on the amount of clicks on the ad or the amount of times it has shown up on a user's screen. Adblock prevents both of these things from happening so the user will still be receiving their free content without the possibility of giving the Admin of the site anything in return. For those of you who use Adblock focus on the words FREE CONTENT. You don't have to pay to use Funnyjunk, YouTube or Reddit which is why these sites need their advertisement revenue, along with other types of income, to stay afloat.

Admittedly some advertisements can be annoying. Especially the advertisements that catch you off-guard like when you click to watch a video on YouTube by 'by chance' a sponsored video pops up and you end up watching that instead. Or when you want to retry a level on a free mobile game but an add pops up just as you press retry, leading to another false click on an advertisement.

Even with all the annoying false-click advertisements out there you need to think about the creators allowing you to view their FREE articles, videos or images without asking you for a penny. All they want you to do is allow advertisements to be shown on your screen whenever you visit their site so they have the chance to make a bit of money.

There is even advertisements on this blog. I don't make a tonne of income at all but its a nice little incentive for the work I have been putting into this blog for over 2 and a half years. If Adsense suddenly disappeared I would always continue blogging but as these ads are up on my site I would like to have the chance to make a little bit of income from them and all you guys have to do is allow them on your screen, you don't even need to click them and it still helps.

So to conclude,
People who use Adblock: You are getting free content. give the creators the chance to make money they rightfully deserve from the content they have created.
People who don't use Adblock: You are cool people.

Thanks for reading.

So my fiancee and I were planning a little trip to London in the midst my final university exam period. We all know how expensive London can be so we planned that we'd head to a chain restaurant that we looked up beforehand, The Slug & Lettuce.

We'd researched the menu for the bar beforehand hand liked the food we saw, plus the prices were not too bad either. We underestimated how busy it'd be so we didn't reserve a table beforehand. Our bad, it is London after all. Upon arrival, we were greeted quite abruptly with "Have you booked?". Of course, though, we hadn't. But a table was still available anyway so we were seated.

The waitress informed us that she would be back in a few minutes to take our order. Upon looking at the menu my fiancee decided to have the Smothered Chicken (£10.29) and I wanted to have something different to what I usually eat when out and went for the Chicken Tikka Masala. We also decided to treat ourselves to a Zombie cocktail each (£9.95 2-4-1). It took a while to place this order since the waitress seemed more concerned with 'chilling' at another table of presumably her friends.

Once the drinks arrived and we tried them we couldn't complain too much, but that's where the lack of complaining ended. Let's talk about my fiancee's food first with a game I like to call "Spot the Piece of Chicken".

For reader convenience, I have pointed out the poultry.

It was dry, bland and even a 3-year-old child would call it bite-sized. I mean, for over £10 you'd expect your chicken to be a bit thicker than the knife you're cutting it with. When I say cutting I mean probing. I guess a good thing to say about this meal is that you can admire the majority of the plate that you're eating it off? Slug and Lettuce? More like Slug and LetUs disappoint you.

Now for my lovely curry...

Once I got the plate to stop sliding around on the...other plate... I got to taste it. Not going to lie, it wasn't the best curry I had ever eaten in my life. The rice tasted like it had been cooking for as long as it had been grown for. The chicken, like my fiancee's smothered chicken, was on the dry side as well as bland. The sauce looked like it was mostly water and could have done with being simmered longer.

We were terribly disappointed with this meal. Terrible tasting food, you don't get much for your money, and chicken you could replace your window panes with. All in all, I give this place a 2/10. That's 1 mark for the table not wobbling and 1 for the fact that the drinks "weren't too bad".

2/10

We haven't had a rant post for a while have we? All this positivity everywhere is making me feel uneasy. Time to bring the mood down! Here are a few things that everyone else loves but I just don't get why.

Adam Sandler Movies

I always try to explain to people that once you've seen a single Adam Sandler movie you've already seen them all. Here, let me tell you a plot to one of his films and you try to tell me which one it is? Adam Sandler sees a good-looking female that he wants to be with, Adam Sandler can't find a way to do so. Adam Sandler confides in some kids, shenanigans happen and ultimately the children cause Adam Sandler and the lady to get together. The end. Which film was that? Bedtime Stories? Blended? Big Daddy? See, you can't tell because they are all literally all the same fucking movie. Don't get me wrong, some of his films are good but I want a more developed plot than the same old kid-helping-romance theme that every film seems to include.

Grilled Halloumi

I just don't get it. You're basically eating a novelty dog toy that's as salty as licking a raw Haddock. Anything that sounds like a nuisance rodent violently being slaughtered by a cat with vengeance when I eat is going no where near my mouth again. I swear the first time I went through the ordeal the full cast of 101 Dalmatians came bursting through the restaurant door. Suddenly it's the new big thing I see everywhere I turn...must be a hipster thing. I'll be sure to take some doggy bags next time I go into a Wetherspoons.

Game Of Thrones

I've tried, okay? Sitting through hour after hour of artistic nudity, impalement and dragons just doesn't seem to catch my attention. I'd rather see a Chemistry teacher cook narcotics, or watch a blood splatter analyst casually murder a few local serial killers. When it comes to fantasy I love the theme in gaming but not so much in film. Lord of The Rings included whereas The Elder Scrolls franchise in phenomenal.

Additional Dislikes

Apple (Good products, ridiculously overpriced)

Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke (Questionable Lyrics and a silly looking hat)

Robin Thicke in general (See his wikipedia page)

Car Obsessions (Look, my car goes vroom vroom louder than yours)

Is there anything that you hate yet everyone else seems to love?

Let me know in the comments below!